Chapter 525 - Shangguan Bing Xue's Suspicion
The next morning.
Bai Zemin surveyed the scene before him as his red eyes tried to stay open to the bright sun that rose soundlessly on the distant horizon.
Behind him lay countless corpses, smashed organs, pools of blood stretching as far as the eye could see. No matter where, every inch behind Bai Zemin's body was like a hell where the dead went.
More terrifying, however, was the scene before Bai Zemin's eyes.
The bodies of those who had not been able to withstand the change of organism after the arrival of the Soul Record were crawling on the ground digging their fingers into the concrete without caring whether their long fingernails split in the process or not. Those who still retained their legs and the ability to move their lower bodies staggered as they advanced step by step, stomping on those who crawled in the process and turning them into a pile of meat paste.
The smell was extremely unpleasant and at the beginning, even Bai Zemin had had his moment of difficulty adjusting. However, fortunately or not, he had spent too many hours fighting on this bridge to get used to the rotten smell emanating from the zombie bodies and their organs scattered everywhere.
It was currently past 10 o'clock in the morning and Bai Zemin had accomplished the goal he had set for himself. He had fought without any rest during the whole night.
Added to the time he had fought before, Bai Zemin had been fighting without rest for around 24 hours even after subtracting the time he briefly stopped yesterday when his soul was injured.
"9.400.000." Bai Zemin said in a somewhat faded voice. The red veins stood out in his eyes and the dark circles under his eyelids were irrefutable proof that spending a whole day battling had been hard even for a top-notch soul evolver like him, "So much effort but there are still more than half of zombies left and among them, the toughest ones are hiding."
Mental exhaustion weighed on his shoulders like a great immovable mountain slowly trying to force him to fall. His legs that didn't have any rest at all during all this time basically begged him to stop his steps for a moment while his arms that had become like machines meant to accompany the movement of the golden spear were numb after so much war.
Bai Zemin had managed to clear almost half of all the zombies on the Eastern Dragon's Back in one day and half of another and an entire night; it was an impressive achievement without a doubt. However, considering that the strongest zombies had yet to make their appearance, the real challenge had only just begun.
The challenge had only just begun and the enemy forces had barely taken any real damage considering that their main troops were still relatively safe in the deepest lines. On the other hand, while the enemy was saving their forces, Bai Zemin was getting more and more worn down.
Bai Zemin took out a chocolate bar from his storage ring and devoured it in two bites. Then, while he swinging his spear with one hand and decapitating the zombies that tried to lock him up, he pulled out a plastic bottle that was filled with a slightly greenish liquid before drinking the entire contents without hesitation.
[For the next 40 seconds, focus increases by 10%. After that, for 40 seconds, Strength -40 points and Agility -40 points].
Using various mutant plants, the newly formed Magical Potions Investigation team in support of the botany team managed to create a potion that while far from perfect, Bai Zemin appreciated very much.
After using several prisoners who had committed different levels of serious crimes or prisoners of war plotting against the current regime as guinea pigs among whom more than 60% died in gruesome ways due to the side effects of some herbal mixtures, the Magical Potions Investigation team managed to create this Focus Potion.
The focus was an untraceable statistic and neither Bai Zemin nor anyone in his faction knew much about it. However, the effect of this newly created potion was remarkable in extended battles.
Of course, few could afford the side effect that would hit after enjoying the benefits the potion had to offer.
Bai Zemin felt his mind become clearer by a considerable margin to the point where even his tired and sore eyes became quite relaxed. He lunged forward taking advantage of the effect of the Focus Potion to the fullest and continued slaughtering zombies left and right.
There was no finesse at all in Bai Zemin's movements. He was no different from a barbarian or a berserker from video games that the more they fought the more ferocious their moves became to the point where even their own lives ceased to matter after giving up defense.
Forty seconds was a short period of time and after slaughtering around 900 zombies Bai Zemin felt the muscles in his body weakening overall. His declining Strength was most noticeable as the temporary loss of 40 Agility points did not affect Bai Zemin too much; after all, he had not used 100% of his Agility at any time even until now.
Five hours later, Bai Zemin had drunk around 100 Focus Potions and had finished off approximately 1,000,000 zombies; half a million less than he was normally managing to kill within the same time limit.
[You have received the Soul Power of Strength Zombie level 22.....]
[You have received the Soul Power of Speed Zombie level 23.....]
[You have received the Soul Power of Maniac Zombie level 21.....]
[You have received the Soul Power of Normal Zombie level 24.....]
...
At this point, every zombie that fell under Bai Zemin's golden spear was a creature that had at least level 20. Many of them were level 24 and others more than level 25; in the process of evolution.
Dealing with all these zombies naturally increased the difficulty level by several folds as the variety of creatures that specialized in different areas attacking him at the same time caused Bai Zemin could not afford to simply swing his spear carelessly for fear of receiving a scratch; while 90% of his body was protected by his armor and the rest of his defensive equipment, Bai Zemin's neck, face, and the junction between each limb were unprotected so he needed to keep those areas away from any possible zombie damage.
Three hours later, the night was descending once again. When this night came to an end with the rising of the sun, Bai Zemin would have spent 2 full days and 2 full nights fighting tirelessly against the endless sea of zombies.
That night, Bai Zemin received a call from Shangguan Bing Xue.
"How are your business?" She asked from the other side of the military radio with direct satellite connection.
Although it was not possible to control the satellites since Bai Zemin's faction had no control over a satellite station, the intercoms that were already connected directly to the satellites would continue to function smoothly until many years in the future until the satellite station's backup power was completely cut off.
Unlike normal cell phones that were connected to antennas, satellite radios were directly connected to the satellite instead of going through the hassle of needing an intermediary to get a signal. Therefore, despite being a few hundred kilometers from each other, communication between the radio at Baiquan Camp and the radio that Bai Zemin carried on his body was smooth.
"... I guess not so easy but somehow I'll manage." Bai Zemin replied loudly as he continued slaughtering enemies.
Blood splattered everywhere and the sound of corpses falling to the ground along with the bestial grunts of the zombies were clearly audible to Shangguan Bing Xue on the other end of the radio.
"Are you fighting even now? It will become increasingly difficult to fight the zombies at night. You should retreat to rest." She said in a flat voice.
Although her voice was indifferent, Bai Zemin couldn't help but imagine her with a frown in the distance.
Bai Zemin was silent for a moment before he silenced the weariness in his voice and said in a clear voice, "Don't worry. I will be retiring soon."
Shangguan Bing Xue was slow to respond this time, she seemed to be thinking about something. However, in the end, she simply said a short sentence:
"That's fine then."
"How are things on your side?" Bai Zemin asked, trying to get some information regarding Baiquan Camp.
"The migration from Beginning Village to Baiquan Camp began on the night of the same day you left." Shangguan Bing Xue replied. The relief in her voice was noticeable as she slowly explained, "Lu Xiaoyao managed to communicate very well with Yijun, and with the support of the soul evolvers and several armed troops over 1000 modified transport vehicles departed from the north. I assume that by tomorrow night at the latest or by dawn next day they should be here as long as no unforeseen events happen."
"... That's good." Bai Zemin gasped for a moment for air as he decapitated a First Order zombie. "As for me, I've managed to finish off quite a few zombies but I still don't know how long it will take me to finish them all."
"I see..... It's normal considering that unless you want to destroy the bridge you wouldn't be able to break loose completely." Shangguan Bing Xue replied.
She believed that Bai Zemin had killed maybe 2,000,000 or 3,000,000 zombies at most. However, she would never have expected that that number was far from being the true death count.... Because she would never have thought that Bai Zemin would continue attacking without sleep for two days and two nights.
"Bing Xue, rest for today. I'm sure you've done a lot." Bai Zemin suddenly said.
"...It's okay. If you need anything, feel free to contact the base, I will do my best to help you." Shangguan Bing Xue replied.
"All right. Talk to you later." Bai Zemin ended the communication immediately before he started panting slightly between each breath.
The reason why he didn't tell Shangguan Bing Xue that he had been fighting day and night without rest was because it would be difficult to explain how it was possible for him to have accomplished such a thing, to begin with. On the other hand, he also did not need someone to feel sympathy for him nor did he need to add weight on the slender shoulders of a woman who already tolerated too much in her life.
Bai Zemin knew he was being stubborn and that perhaps his path might not be the best. However, what human did not make mistakes? In his eyes, this was the best way to avoid trouble.
Difficult? Yes. But not impossible.
With his passive skills and titles that boosted his overall battle prowess, Bai Zemin was no different from a nearly inexhaustible machine. He could maintain this pace for at least another two days.
Thus, while he forced a path south before the world evolved, Shangguan Bing Xue and the rest could secure the base and consolidate the government. Bai Zemin believed that the best option was to leave the front to him while the others made sure to protect the house behind.
However, Bai Zemin was perhaps too mentally exhausted to remember that Shangguan Bing Xue had not been the No. 1 student at Beijing University for nothing; she was not an empty beauty or talent but her intelligence and ability to analyze were top-notch.
* * *
Baiquan Camp.
In one of the most luxurious rooms on the third floor of the villa that formerly belonged to Mayor Bai Yong, Shangguan Bing Xue was wearing a beautiful white dress as she gazed at the night sky.
Her beautiful face had a slight frown on it that with the passing seconds deepened more and more as her blue eyes that shone as stars became more and more disturbed.
She began to repeat her previous conversation with Bai Zemin but the more she thought about it the more she felt that something was wrong.
Suddenly, as if an idea struck her, Shangguan Bing Xuemur muttered under her breath, "Don't tell me..."
She was unwilling to believe it, and in fact, even if she wanted to believe it accepting the thought that had just given birth in her heart became more and more plausible the more she thought and analyzed it.
Shangguan Bing Xue went to Wu Yijun's room and told her that she would be left in charge of the situation in case something happens during the night.
"Bing Xue, where are you going?" Wu Yijun was wearing pink pajamas and her hair was damp; she was clearly getting ready for bed just before Shangguan Bing Xue rushed into her room.
"Don't worry, I'll be back by noon."
Shangguan Bing Xue didn't explain too much about it and under the dumbfounded gaze of her good sister jumped out of the window and floated like a butterfly. When her little feet touched the ground, she became a flash of silver light that in a matter of blinks disappeared from all eyes.
* * * * * * *
Really thank you very much to all those who send gifts to the novel and support with valuable Golden Tickets. I hope we can all keep it up <3